October 16, 1998
Columbia, Mo.- The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the Missouri baseball Fall World Series on Friday afternoon thanks to the heroics of junior-college transfer Dustin Barnes. Barnes (3-for-5, 2 RBI) connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off of freshman Brian Ackerson to give the Tigers a 12-11 win over the Bengals. Game three will take place Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
The Tigers jumped all over Bengals' starter Jody Harris in the first inning. Following an error and a hit batter, Ryan Pickett collected his fifth RBI of the series with a single to make it a 1-0 game. Senior Aaron Wilson followed Pickett with a three-run opposite field home run to make it 4-0 Tigers. A three-run homer by Jake Epstein in the third inning opened the lead to 7-0.
The Bengals fought back against Tigers' starter Mitch Kiler in the third inning. Joe Rooney delivered an RBI single and Reid Warner drove in two runs to cut the lead to 7-3. The Tigers answered right back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Following a Matt Meinert single, Nick Wilfong (3-for-5) connected for an opposite field home run to up the Tigers lead to 9-3.
The Tigers' problems continued in the fifth inning as the Bengals put up a five spot. Wes Fewell (4-for-5) led the inning off with an infield hit. Following a Jon Williams walk, freshman Mick Weiss (2-for-4, 3 RBI) blasted a home run over the left field wall to make it a 9-6 game. Kiler was replaced by freshman P.J. McGinnis who proceeded to walk four batters in just 1/3 of an inning leading to two more Bengal runs.
The Tigers got one run back in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Barnes. Kiler drove in a run in the seventh inning as the Tigers built back an 11-8 lead. The Bengals were far from done. The Bengals tied the game in the eighth inning taking advantage of two walks, two wild pitches, a passed ball and a balk. The tying run crossed the plate on a dropped third strike.
In the bottom of the ninth, it was Barnes leading off the inning with a shot off of the left field scoreboard to win the game and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the series.